


Sketchbook

by Aria_Lerendeair



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Avengers Movies Universe
Genre: Gen, Lost in the 21st century, Sketchbook, Steve Angst, Steve Feels, Steve coping, Steve is an art buff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-18
Updated: 2012-07-18
Packaged: 2017-11-10 05:38:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/462779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Lerendeair/pseuds/Aria_Lerendeair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony calls the Avengers to his house for a meeting and remembers that he has some of Steve's old things from the war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sketchbook

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shadeshifter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadeshifter/gifts), [teegee](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=teegee).



> I don't quite know where this came from, but when I had the idea I couldn't stop it. 
> 
> Just the idea of Steve, trying to learn to cope and figure out this world and suddenly Tony has a small key to his past. 
> 
> This is for Teegee and Shadeshifter, who, without them, I probably wouldn't love this fandom half as much as I currently do!

It was over.  It was all over for the moment.  Now that he had time to think about it, Steve wasn’t sure what he was going to do.  What he could do.  Was he still enlisted?  

His fingers ached to hold a pencil and draw.  Maybe he could go back to art school.  The world hadn’t changed so much.  Art school would still be there.  Even if there was no more Bucky and awful double-dates that he didn’t want to think about too hard, because then he would just miss Bucky more and more.  

In his place he had teammates who didn’t like him and barely wanted to work with him and accepted his command because he could keep them from getting killed.  One of them was Howard’s son.  Howard, the man he would never have guessed would become a father.  Steve sighed and ran his fingers over his face.  

His SHIELD-issued barracks was bigger than most he had stayed in before, but it was so quiet.  He was left alone with his thoughts, and now with no battle to fight, he had no purpose.  There was no personality to the white room.  Only his duffle bag and a few changes of clothing.  His uniform in the metal closet.  

Steve reclined on the bed.  He needed to do something.  Anything.  Anything that did not involve sitting here waiting for something else to happen.  A knock on his door made him blink.  He glanced at the clock.  Four thirty in the afternoon.  

“Yo, Steve, you in there!”

He smiled at the sound of Clint’s voice and got up, opening the door.  The other Avenger had been on a mission in southeast asia for the past week.  It was good to see that he was back -albeit very bruised by the looks of things- and all right.  

“Stark’s got something he wants to propose to all of us.  We’re going over to his mansion on fifth avenue for dinner.  You turned off your phone, so I volunteered to come get you.”  

Steve glanced at the phone sitting on the table.  His new ‘cell’ phone sat there.  He’d turned it off when he had gone to the gym earlier.  No point in keeping it on when there was no emergency to call him for.  He nodded and glanced around the room.  Nothing for him to grab and take with him.  

Two hours later, he and the rest of the Avengers were sitting around Stark’s massive dining table, discussing what they were going to do after Thor took Loki back to Asgard.  

“What about you Cap?  Now that we’ve all gone and saved the world, what are you going to do?”  

The question caught him by surprise.  All of their responses seemed to fit them.  Clint and Natasha were going to continue working for SHIELD.  Bruce would now be staying with Tony at the mansion.  Tony would continue to do exactly what he did already.  Thor would be going back to Asgard to handle his brother.  He looked down at his glass of water and thought about it.  What was he going to do?  Everyone he had known was dead or dying.  

“I don’t know.”  Steve looked back up at Tony and saw his surprise.  “I was in art school for a year before I started trying to get drafted.  I doubt that they would transfer my credits, but I could probably do that.  Pretty sure I have some back pay in an account somewhere.”  

“Art school?  Really?  Never would have pegged you for the type Cap.  I thought you’d get on your motorcycle, jaw set and determined to see as much of this new world as possible.”  

He smiled a little at the idea.  It did appeal to him.  Maybe it was something he would do.  “Maybe I will.  Take my sketchbook and travel all around the country-”

“Sketchbook?”  

He looked at Tony, surprised at the strangled tone that had escaped him.  What was wrong with a sketchbook?  Was it something else Stark would make fun of him for?  Tony was staring at him in horror before he scrambled up from his seat and darted out of the room.  His heart fell.  What had he done?  

“What the fuck got into Stark?  He took off like a bat outta hell!”  Clint grouched.  “That was damn rude.  Who cares if Cap sketches.”  He gave the Captain a light elbow and smirked at him.  “You draw?”  

“Yeah, anything I can see.  It helps me relax.”  He smiled a little.  “Back when I was doing propaganda tours, I used to draw myself as a monkey riding a unicycle and-”

“Like this!”  

Steve looked up at Tony as he came back in, holding a box under one arm and his old sketchbook, flipped to the picture he was describing.  His mouth went dry.  It was his sketchbook.  His sketchbook from the war.  “Where did-”

He watched Tony look down sheepishly.  “My Dad brought it home.  After the war.”  Tony held up the helmet that he’d found in the box.  It was the one he had worn to go rescue Bucky and the others.  “I used to wear this and pretend I was you when I was younger.”  

He walked closer and took the sketchbook from Tony and cradled it to his chest.  He looked in the box.  There were photos and everything he’d kept in his locker.  His breath caught.  “Could I have these?”  

Steve looked up at Tony.  He didn’t recognize the look in his eyes.  It wasn’t pity.  It was...understanding.  Tony understood.  Somehow.  

“Of course Ca-Steve.  They’re yours.  They belong to you.”  

They belonged to him.  They were his.  A small piece of that life he had lost, tied in with the one he now had.  He smiled.  The first real smile he’d given since he had woken up from the ice.  “Thanks Tony.”  

Steve didn’t miss the shy smile Tony gave him in return.  

“You’re welcome.”  

**Author's Note:**

> Hate it? Love it? Did I have someone remove their shirt twice? Let me know!
> 
> Comments and Criticisms welcome!
> 
> You can find me here: http://aria-lerendeair.tumblr.com/
> 
> You can also watch me write fics like this (and dozens of others) live! Follow me on Livestream for fics, shenanigans and a general all-around awesome time! http://new.livestream.com/accounts/7212317


End file.
